Kindle
by TheSilverHunt3r
Summary: Katsuki Bakugou is Doppo Kunikida's great nephew. As a six year old, Bakugou was given a list of three people and told to contact them if he needs help. Four years after his great uncle's death, he decides to meet the only one with a listed address, Chuuya Nakahara.
1. Tinder

Bakugou stared up curiously at the towering blond monolith. The monolith, Doppo Kunikida, coughed, and settled himself down onto the couch beside Bakugou.

Doppo Kunikida, Bakugou's great uncle, had always been taller than him. Also, Uncle Kunikida was strong even though he was old, his Quirk was awesome-although he called it an Ability, not a Quirk- and he was really smart.

"Bakugou, if you're ever in really bad trouble, as in your parents died or a villain is after you, then find these people. They are my friends, and will help you."

The blond child nodded and grinned. "I'm six! I can handle anything! But...if there's a villain, they can be my sidekick!"

Kunikida sighed. How long had it been since he had seen someone who believed they were on top of the world? Someone so confident in their abilities? Well, such was the gift of some children.

The old man-and he was an old man, at the ripe age of age of 113-leaned in and asked a very important question. "Do you want to become a Hero?"

"Of course!" Came the enthusiastic reply of the wide-eyed Bakugou. Who wouldn't want to be a Pro-Hero?

Kunikida nodded. He narrowed his eyes at his great nephew. "Why?"

"Because of All-Might! He's awesome! He can beat any villain! Every villain at once couldn't even stop him! I want to be a Hero, I'll always win that way!"

Kunikida pursed his lips and proposed a thought. "What if All -Might lost?"

Bakugou stared at Kunikida in shock. The thought was unfamiliar to him, completely alien because of his belief that the Hero All-Might would always win and always be there. He furrowed his eyebrows and thought. "I...I don't know?"

"Why don't you become a Villain? The Hero doesn't always win after all," Kunikida mused.

Bakugou glared vehemently at his great uncle. His voice went up high as he shouted, "No way!" He frowned. "Villains...hurt people. They do bad stuff. I don't want to do that."

Kunikida took off and cleaned his glasses with his sleeve. Despite the lack of visibility in his vision, his gaze was no less stern, but understanding. "That's the difference between Heroes and Villains. One becomes a Villain if one wants to help themselves get whatever they want at whatever cost. But, one becomes a Hero because one wants to help people, not because you want to win. Do you understand the difference?"

Bakugou nodded. He looked subdued as thoughts swirled in his head.

Kunikida frowned and placed his hands on his knees. His hands and arms seemed to bulge out from where they should be, an unfortunate side effect of old age. "Do you still want to be a Hero?"

Bakugou stared his great uncle in the eye. "Yes."

The old man's lips curled up into a smile. "Good to hear. Now, I'm going to be gone in a few years. I won't be able to train you much. When I'm gone...go to Chuuya. He can help you become a Hero."

Bakugou stared at the small, yellow sticky note. He took it with a solemn look.

XXX

Kunikida: Promise me, look out for the kid.

Dazai: I will.

XXX

Bakugou stood in front of the closed casket. His chest was stuffed full of anger and annoyance. 'Why couldn't Uncle Kunikida have waited? He was going to teach me how to deal with hostage situations next summer."

When he got home, he broke down and cried. The reality of not seeing his uncle, at least for a long time, hit him with the almighty force of an United States of Smash. Neither of his parents commented on his eyes that were even redder than usual from crying, his sleeves where he had wiped his tears off, and his deeply cemented frown. But they did offer a large, tight family hug. His mom soothingly ran her fingers through his hair. His dad muttered assurances and talked about random things.

Later that night, Bakugou stared at his ceiling. 'I am going to become a hero,' he thought. 'But, I'm going to have start acting more like a proper hero. Well, that's going to suck.'

XXX

Bakugou had been in a foul mood for days. He had been avoiding Midoriya like the plague. Heck, he avoided everyone like the plague.

Midoriya frowned with concern at his blond classmate's spiky head. It was unlike Bakugou to be so silent and subdued. He got to class, said nothing to anyone, and immediately left.

XXX

"Kacchan? Are you alright?" Midoriya asked.

Bakugou scowled. "Leave me alone, Deku."

"But...you don't look-" Midoriya started.

Bakugou glared at his annoying classmate.

Midoriya put his hands up and took a step back. He bit his lip and bravely continued. "You don't look well. I...I'm worried. You've been really withdrawn recently. And...I'm worried."

Bakugou put his hands in his pockets. He squeezed his fingers together, digging his fingernails into his palms. 'Remember, don't get angry, don't hit him, don't spark up. You can't do that anymore. Not anymore. You're going to be a hero, heroes only hurt villains.'

He sighed. "Don't. Leave me alone, Midoriya." Bakugou walked away.

Midoriya stopped walking. His brain froze. 'Did Kacchan just call me 'Deku'?'

XXX

Midoriya took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"I was...wondering if I...if Bakugou was available? I'd like to see if he wants to play?" He immediately blurted out as the door opened.

Mrs. Bakugou grinned. "Izuku! Of course you can. He's right up stairs in his room, you know the way. How is Inko doing?"

Midoriya smiled. Mrs. Bakugou was as enthusiastic as he remembered. "She's doing well."

"Tell Inko I said hello," Mrs. Bakugou cheerfully ordered and then shooed her son's visitor upstairs.

Midoriya's smile grew more dim as he inched closer to Bakugou's room. He took a breath and quietly knocked. The door flew open, the annoyed face of Katsuki Bakugou stared at him.

"Kacchan, I-" Midoriya began.

"Midoriya, I told you to leave me alone," Bakugou spat.

Midoriya winced, less at the anger-he had grown used to it over a lifetime of knowing Bakugou-and more at the lack of the familiar nickname. He timidly asked, "Can I come in?"

Bakugou scowled but moved back into his room and left his door open. Midoriya took that as a 'yes', and cautiously entered.

Bakugou sat on his bed, thumbing through a book. Midoriya sat on the floor nearby. He looked around at the bedroom and how things had changed.

There were more plaques and medals hanging on the wall. The top of Bakugou's bookshelf held a row of shiny trophies. AllMight merchandise and that of other famous heroes were spread sparsely around the room. Bakugou's cover was now red and black instead of the bright yellow one of AllMight's face.

They spent an hour in silence. Eventually, Bakugou sighed and growled something under his breath.

Midoriya flinched as a XBox controller landed next to him.

Bakugou put a disc in and they played Call of Duty Zombies. They didn't look at each other or exchange a word. But they weren't silent, Bakugou sometimes let out a string of curse words Midoriya didn't know existed and Midoriya sometimes mumbled thoughts about various strategies.

It seemed Bakugou didn't want it talk about it. Whatever it was, whatever had happened, Midoriya's presence was being tolerated. And that was already a big change. So Midoriya would wait, wait long enough for Bakugou to trust him enough to talk.

XXX

When he was thirteen, Bakugou remembered while in the middle of a test at school.

He sprinted home and, once inside his house, dashed up the stairs and down the hallway. He opened his door, barely avoiding slamming it closed because he didn't want his mom to yell at him.

Bakugou dragged out a shoebox from under his bed. He dug through photos and rocks until he unearthed a small, yellow sticky note. The writing was faded, but legible.

It was list of three names: Chuuya Nakahara, Osamu Dazai, Nakajima Atsushi. There was a phone number under each. And an address under one.

The only person with a listed address, Chuuya Nakahara, supposedly the person who could help him become a hero. Fortunately, it was nearby.

"I'm going out for a walk!" Bakugou yelled.

"Be back in time for dinner!" His mom, Mitsuki, yelled back.

It was a twenty-minute walk to the shopping center. Bakugou stared at the shop that the address had led him to.

Crimson Moon was the name of the shop. It was a tan, two story building with a red door.

Bakugou grabbed the brass handle, twisted it with cold hands, and pushed the door open. Above the door, a tiny silver bell tinkled.

The inside of the shop was cramped and dimly lit. The dark brown walls were lined with shelves, full of bottles. Two long white tables were in the middle of the room, they displayed various books on wine and bottle related gadgets. In the back, a winding red staircase went up to the second floor. Beside the staircase there was a alcove.

The alcove was small, but could comfortably fit two average-sized adults side by side. A wood countertop divided the area off along with with an 'Employees only' sign. There were several shelves of bottles on the wall behind and a door that led to the back. In this space, a redheaded man sat.

He propped an elbow on the counter and drawled, "I think you're a little young to be in here. We don't serve kids."

Bakugou bristled at being called a 'kid'. "I'm not here for a drink," he snapped.

The man smirked. "Oh? Then what are you here for?" He folded his gloved hands together, looking surprisingly like a James Bond villain due his clothing. Only his top half was visible behind the counter: a tan vest, black button-up, and a fancy black hat. His red hair looked slightly overgrown and framed his face in soft spikes.

"I'm looking for a guy," Bakugou said with a shrug and annoyed look. He fished out the yellow sticky note from his back pocket and squinted at the name in the middle.

The man's eyebrows went up in mild surprise. "Who?" He tugged on his hat slightly. It was an unusual, eye-catching black fedora, with a tan ribbon and shiny, silver chain.

"I'm looking for someone called 'Chuuya Nakahara'. Do you know him?" Bakugou asked. He put his hands and the sticky note in his pockets.

The man snorted. "Yeah, I know him. Why are you looking for him?"

Bakugou sighed. He probably wouldn't get anywhere if the man didn't help him. He spilled his story.

"Well, you found me. I'm Chuuya Nakahara," the man announced. He shrugged and pulled the moveable part of the countertop aside. He stepped into the rest of the room. He wore black dress pants and his black dress shoes were shined and without a visible mark.

"What? You? You're...you're Mr. Nakahara?" Bakugou sputtered in disbelief.

"Yes, call me Chuuya," the man calmly replied. "Now, let's go talk to your parents. Where do you live?"

XXX

Bakugou followed Chuuya, his thoughts a whirlwind. How was this petite ginger man going to help him become a Hero? For the first time, Bakugou questioned whether he should have heeded his great uncle's advice.

Sooner than what felt like normal to Bakugou, they arrived at his house.

Chuuya briskly knocked on the door.

Mr. Bakugou opened it.

"I am Chuuya Nakahara. I met Doppo Kunikida a few years ago and became good friends with him. With your permission, I'd like to train your son to become a Pro-Hero," Chuuya bluntly stated.

Mr. Bakugou blinked and stepped aside. "Come in, we'll have to discuss this with my wife," he softly suggested.

"Thank you." Chuuya stepped inside and took off his hat. Chuuya toed off his shoes and Bakugou followed.

"Dear, would you please come here for a minute?" Mr. Bakugou loudly asked.

"One minute dear!" Mrs. Bakugou hollered back.

"Let's wait in the living room," Mr. Bakugou said and led the way.

Katsuki Bakugou sat down beside his dad. The couch was brown and well-worn.

Chuuya chose to sit in the chair opposite. His hat was placed on his legs, a gloved hand lightly over top of it.

"Masaru, you didn't tell me we had company," Mrs. Bakugou light heartedly scolded her husband.

Mr. Bakugou gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I panicked."

"You panicked?" Mrs. Bakugou questioned.

Chuuya politely coughed. Everyone looked at him. "As I said to your husband, I am Chuuya Nakahara. I met Doppo Kunikida a few years ago and became good friends with him. With your permission, I'd like to train your son to become a Pro-Hero."

"Oh," Mrs. Bakugou said. Her eyes were wide as she traded a look with her husband. "I see what you mean."

"Mr. Nakahara, why are you interested in our son?" Mr. Bakugou asked. His voice was soft and calm but full of curiosity.

"Please, call me Chuuya. Kunikida asked me to look out for your family. He specifically asked me to train Bakugou, since he knew I lived near you."

Mr. Bakugou nodded. "All right."

Mrs. Bakugou narrowed her eyes at Chuuya. "Mr. Chuuya, what are your qualifications?"

"I am a certified Pro and work at an agency, but we are of the underground variety of Pros. We usually work alongside the police and other government employees. I also run my own business in a shopping center nearby," Chuuya revealed. He pulled out a plastic card, his Pro Hero license, and passed it to Mrs. Bakugou.

She hummed and looked over the card. It all seemed correct. Chuuya Nakahara, Japanese, age 21...Mrs. Bakugou handed to card to her husband for him to look over.

"You were born in Yokohama?" Mr. Bakugou asked.

Chuuya nodded. "I grew up there. I haven't been in years however. Musutafu is my home now."

Mr. Bakugou handed the license to its owner. Chuuya slid it back into his wallet.

"How did you and Katsuki meet face to face?" Mrs. Bakugou asked. She stared at the man, her face full of suspicion.

Bakugou winced and spoke up. "It was because of me. Uncle Kunikida gave me his address and told me to go there after he...died. He said that Chuuya Nakahara could help me become a Hero."

Mr. and Mrs. Bakugou looked at each other. A long glance of understanding and apprehension. "We'll agree to this on four conditions: we expect hourly phone calls, it doesn't affect Katsuki's grades, tell us whenever you're going out, and tell us what you're doing."

"I agree," Chuuya and Bakugou affirmed.

"Good. Now, do you want some tea?" Mrs. Bakugou offered.

Chuuya smiled. "I'd love some, thank you."

XXX

Bakugou looked around. The back of Crimson Moon was a large, brick alley. The bricks were a bright red color and were warm from hours of being exposed to sunlight.

Chuuya closed the back door of Crimson Moon behind him. He had turned the store sign to 'closed' and left his vest inside. "All right, we're going to do close combat. No Quirks."

"Why no Quirks?" Bakugou asked with shock. He had an offensive Quirk after all. It wasn't like he had a useless non-combative Quirk.

Chuuya nodded. He started cracking his fingers, one by one. "Because you need to learn the basics before you can incorporate your Quirk. Also, there will be times when you can't use your Quirk. If you know how to fight without, you won't be useless deadweight.

"Begin!"

Bakugou lunged forward, right fist outstretched.

It was easily avoided with a step backwards, Chuuya shook his head in disappointment. "You're going to have to try better than that."

Bakugou scowled and furiously swung at his mentor.

"Fighting isn't mindless," Chuuya scolded as he dodged.

Bakugou huffed and took a fighting stance, of sorts. It was his fighting stance for him to be able to use his Quirk. As he was unable to make the first move and hit Chuuya, he should wait.

"No Quirks. Keep your fists up," Chuuya reminded.

Bakugou frowned yet complied. In his frustration, he swung again. Chuuya neatly side stepped and kicked his student lightly in the side.

"You telegraph your punches. Your wind up is far too big. Be less dramatic, more efficient," Chuuya lectured.

XXX

Midoriya noticed how worn out Bakugou was on Mondays. It wasn't the usual 'I hate Mondays' lack of energy many of their classmates had.

Bakugou come to school with bruised knuckles occasionally. As if he was punching something or someone.

Midoriya was worried. But he kept quiet, attending bi-weekly video game hangouts at the Bakugous. They were the closest each other had to a friend. But Bakugou still didn't tell him...really anything.

A/N

I've had about eight story ideas for a bsd-mha crossover.

I blame anachronist and pocketsizeddinosaur over on Ao3 for this story. Also, writingforfunandbecauseboredom, who I've been talking about bsd-mha crossovers with for months. Go check out Boredom's story, the Chill!Bakugou AU, it's an awesome crossover.

Much thanks to UnderHisWings for betaing this story.

I'll be posting a new chapter every three weeks.

-Silver


	2. Match

Bakugou threw a punch. Chuuya evaded. Bakugou was coated in sweat, while Chuuya was only slightly damp.

They froze as they faintly heard the sound of wind chimes. "Time out," Chuuya ordered. "Follow me."

Bakugou's lips twitched downwards. After several conversations, he knew not to grumble about things like that, he would only waste his breath. His unfortunately growing respect for Chuuya on top of that led him to actually obey the command, instead of sneering at Chuuya and doing the opposite out of spite.

They headed inside, to the cool interior of Crimson Moon. Chuuya slipped his phone out from his vest pocket. Chuuya tapped a button, the phone lit up. A message popped up on the screen, but Bakugou was unable to read it.

"So… I'm going to be busy next weekend," Chuuya explained. He glanced at Bakugou. "Which means I'm going to need a substitute."

"Do you know anyone who could?" Bakugou asked. His voice was hopeful. Losing any time he could be training time would suck.

Chuuya nodded and scrolled through his contacts. "I have just the right person in mind." He pressed the call button and smiled. "Hello Atsushi, are you doing anything next weekend?" He smirked. "Good. I need you to help a kid I've been training. I'm going to be gone this weekend." He said nothing for a few seconds, listening to the person on the other end. Chuuya waved his hand, nonchalant. "Yeah, just some close combat would be fine. Bye."

Chuuya turned a stern gaze onto Bakugou. "Okay, a friend of mine is going to train you. Behave, yeah?"

Bakugou grudgingly nodded.

XXX

It was Saturday. Chuuya's friend was only going to be here for one day, but it was better than nothing.

Bakugou walked into the back alley of the shop. He pulled out his phone to wait, the substitute hadn't arrived.

"Hello?" A voice timidly asked. The man had asymmetrical white hair. Whether it was bleached or natural, Bakugou couldn't tell. The man wore a white button-up and baggy black pants, a long belt sticking out behind him like a tail.

"Hey," Bakugou greeted, eyes glued back to his phone to finish up something. He turned off his phone and put it in his backpack on the door mat. "Are you Atsushi?"

The man smiled, a bright sincere smile that Bakugou rarely saw on other people. "Yeah, that's me. I'm supposed to help you with close combat, right?"

Bakugou nodded. He stepped into the middle of the alleyway. "Quirks or no Quirks?"

"How about with Quirks," Atsushi suggested. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows.

Fifteen minutes later, Bakugou sat on the ground. He panted heavily. Sweat rolled down his face.

Atsushi smiled sympathetically. He may have overdone it. He's not trying to break the kid's spirit. "Do you want to take a break?"

"F*ck no. I'll beat you!" Bakugou sprung to his feet. His eyes were red and full of fire.

XXX

Mr. Fancy Hat: How'd it go?

Brat: Fine.

Mr. Fancy Hat: Oh?

Brat: Fine, I admit it.

Brat: He beat my a*s.

Mr. Fancy Hat: XD

Brat: -_-

Brat: It's not funny.

Mr. Fancy Hat: Except it is.

Brat: :p

XXX

School ended for the day. Bakugou pulled out his phone immediately. It was Friday, which meant Chuuya would tell him what they were doing before Mrs. Bakugou wanted her son home for dinner.

Mr. Fancy Hat: Quirk training today. We're going to the field.

Mr. Fancy Hat: Oh yeah.

Mr. Fancy Hat: Bring a water bottle.

Brat: Okay.

Bakugou yelled, "Yes!" He pumped his fist with a vicious grin.

Around him, the students started and stared at their overjoyed classmate.

Midoriya smiled, at least Bakugou seemed to be happy about something.

XXX

The next Tuesday, Midoriya went over to the Bakugous's house as usual.

At Wave 20 of Cod Zombies, Bakugou started to talk. His tone was blase as he explained, "I've been getting trained by a friend of my great uncle's. That's why I sometimes have bruises. They're from sparring."

Midoriya grinned, stars in his eyes. He was being trusted by his friend. "Thanks for telling me, Kacchan."

Bakugou recoiled emotionally and rolled his eyes. "It's not that big of a deal," he muttered.

XXX

Bakugou growled and narrowed his eyes. His punch was wildly off, but he didn't care.

"You still have problems with keeping your temper. That's just going to frighten people," Chuuya lectured.

Bakugou scowled. "Yeah, yeah. I've heard it all before."

"Is there any music genres you know you like?" Chuuya suddenly asked. He stepped back a few paces.

Bakugou stopped attacking in his bewilderment.

"You could listen to music. That might help you calm down and keep you focused." Chuuya shrugged.

"Yeah, but I'll look like an idiot," Bakugou scoffed.

Chuuya huffed. "You can sing out loud or in your head when you're fighting. There are some athletes who do that when competing." He dropped back into a relaxed fighting stance, feet spread a bit apart. "Now, back to sparring," he reminded.

"Yeah, yeah."

XXX

Bakugou halted mid-step. He thought he heard a sob, amidst the loud rap song blaring in his ears. He pulled his right earbud out and listened. Soft laughter and quiet despairing sobs came from in front of him and to the right.

He frowned and sprinted down the street. Bakugou screeched to a stop at a small alley between two brick houses.

"Oi, the h*l are you doing?" He demanded.

Wings guy and Fingers guy turned around. Bakugou knew them, they were two lackeys who used to follow him around as kids.

"Hey Bakugou," Fingers guy greeted with a sneer. "We were just roughing up this loser here."

Bakugou's gaze landed between the two bullies. Deku, no, Midoriya, sat on the ground. His lip was bloody and his eyes were full of tears.

"Really? Just leave him alone. You're acting like little kids," Bakugou snarked. He stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged.

"Why do you care? You used to beat him up too," Wings guy pointed out.

Bakugou dropped his nonchalant pretense and scowled with annoyance. He glared at the two bullies. "Back the f*ck off. Unless you want to fight."

"Chill, chill, we'll go." Fingers guy held his hands up defensively. They weren't suicidal, Bakugou had gotten quieter but no less lethal over the past few years. Fingers guy and Wings guy quickly left though the other side of the alley.

Bakugou scoffed. "F*cking small fry."

Midoriya stood up, a large smile on his face. "Thanks Kacchan."

"Just figure out a way to fix your lip before you get home." Bakugou frowned and lazily waved goodbye as he left the alley.

XXX

Bakugou sat down on one of the two small seats in the alcove. The interior was cool and a welcome change to hot alleyway out back. He opened a water bottle and started guzzling water.

Chuuya closed the door and sat down on the seat beside Bakugou. "Congratulations, you got me to use my legs this time," he complimented.

Bakugou took a breath, nodded, and went back to gulping down water like it was oxygen. Chuuya snorted at the sight.

Finally, Bakugou was done drinking like a man who had found an oasis in the Sahara desert. He put his crumpled water bottle in his backpack. "So...there's something I've been thinking about," he carefully began.

Chuuya stared at Bakugou. "Oh? And what's that?"

Bakugou frowned. "How did you two know Kunikida? You and Atsushi looked like you're in your twenties? How the h*l did you guys know an old man who could barely get out of bed in the morning without hurting his back? It's pretty...unusual."

Chuuya squinted at Bakugou. "Are you saying the elderly can't have twenty year old friends?"

"No. But...it's suspicious as h*l that you all were." Bakugou crossed his arms.

Chuuya gave a large exasperated sigh. "You can't tell anyone about this," he warned, pointing at Bakugou with his index finger.

"Alright."

"I mean it, Katsuki Bakugou. Not a word to anyone who's not me, Atsushi, or Dazai, about this."

Bakugou nodded. "I promise."

"Follow me," Chuuya ordered. They went out of the alcove and up the nearby staircase to the second floor.

It was weird mix of a living room, bedroom, and kitchen. Creamy white and soft baby blue wallpaper coated the walls in cartoonish clouds.

Chuuya pulled out a small grey chest from behind the couch. He unlocked it and leafed through several pages with faded characters and yellowed photographs. As he did this, he began to explain.

"We were in enemy... businesses for a while. Then, a lot of crazy stuff happened. A strong alliance was formed between our sides out of necessity. After I left my business and moved to Musutafu, I ran into many people, particularly these three, and became friends."

Bakugou sat down beside his crouching mentor. Chuuya passed a photo to Bakugou. It was a picture of a much younger Kunikida who stood stiffly alongside a smiling Atsushi, smirking Chuuya, and grinning man with brown hair, swathed in bandages. Bakugou glanced back and forth between the current Chuuya and the one in the photo.

"Bakugou, the reason I left is because I realized I wasn't aging," Chuuya revealed. He frowned.

"So...you're saying...you're immortal?" Bakugou stared at Chuuya with disbelief.

Chuuya snorted. "Most likely. You've seen Atsushi already, he's the same. And you haven't met him, but Dazai's also still kicking and doesn't look a day over twenty five."

"Are you human?"

"As close as possible while still being an immortal." Chuuya wryly smiled.

Bakugou carefully put the photo on the red carpet. "This is...really f*cking weird," he bluntly stated.

Chuuya laughed.

XXX

Bakugou was walking through the alley shortcuts he used. He absently stepped around dirty puddles of water as he took out his phone.

Mr. Fancy Hat: Quirk training for the next few days.

Bakugou grinned and let out a small "yes!". He immediately changed directions from the shop to the field.

Mr. Fancy Hat: I'm going to help you learn how to fly.

Brat: ?

Brat: How?

Mr. Fancy Hat: Using my Quirk.

Now, Bakugou wasn't like the starry eyed Quirk lover Midoriya. But Chuuya had never even told Bakugou about his Quirk. Bakugou had resorted to guessing, but got nowhere. But, today, that he was getting an answer and learning how to fly.

XXX

Bakugou came to school a bit happier this Monday. He only talked when the teacher called on him, but he had a permanent smirk for the entire day.

XXX

"Why are you two here?" Chuuya asked. On his couch sat two uninvited guests. Atsushi sat properly, only taking up space on one cushion. Dazai was sprawled out, legs behind Atsushi's back, and his hands behind his head with a pout on his face.

"The Fukui are spreading again. But this time they're being careful. I can't find anything," Dazai complained.

Chuuya rolled his eyes. "Well, don't complain about it to me! You're our main information gatherer. So do something about it you waste of bandages. It's your job, not mine."

"I'm sure you'll be able to find something soon, Dazai," Atsushi encouraged.

"You're so kind, Atushi. Chuuya should be more like you," Dazai praised. Tears flowed down his cheeks in dramatic fashion.

"Yeah...no," Chuuya deadpanned.

XXX

At age 15, in the spring, Bakugou was walking back home. He always took the shortcuts he knew, even though they were often dark alleys with the occasional pile of garbage.

There was a faint odd squelch. As if someone was walking behind Bakugou with soaked plastic sandals.

Bakugou glanced backwards. He saw the disturbing sight of a large murky green jello with googly looking eyes and a big mouth.

"F*k," Bakugou cursed as he sprinted towards the end of the alley.

He had noticed the villain too late. A cold green tentacle wrapped around his leg and pulled.

XXX

Bakugou tried to brush aside the emergency responders when he saw the pro-heroes end their lectures of Midoriya's actions. Midoriya instantly left with a frown, his head held low.

Three minutes of arguing later and Bakugou sprinted after his friend. He caught sight of Midoriya.

"Hey, Deku," Bakugou wheezed. He winced. "Hey, Midoriya!"

Midoriya turned around, a surprised look on his face. "Kacchan?"

Bakugou grimaced and forced out one word, "Thanks."

Midoriya almost died from shock. Bakugou quickly made his escape.

XXX

"Hello, Sludge Kid," Chuuya mockingly greeted next weekend.

"Yeah, yeah," Bakugou sourly replied.

"The kid who's saved you was your classmate Midoriya, yeah?"

"Yeah. And I already thanked him for it, so don't get on my case," Bakugou said defensively.

Chuuya's eyebrows shot up. "You thanked him?"

"Yeah, I did. So what?"

Chuuya smirked. He threw an arm around Bakugou's shoulder. "Aww, you're finally growing up and learning when to swallow your pride."

"Oh, s*rew you," Bakugou snapped.

Chuuya laughed and ruffled Bakugou's spiky hair.

XXX

Rather than walking, Midoriya practically bounced into Bakugou's bedroom. "I'm training, with a pro hero I met. I'm going to go to U.A. Entrance Exam, and I'm going to pass!" He declared.

Bakugou pursed his lips and nodded. Where had this curveball come from? "I...hope you do."

Midoriya grinned.

XXX

"Huh. Midoriya said he was getting trained by a pro hero? And that he's going to enter the entrance exam U.A.?" Chuuya asked.

"Yes, that's what I said he said," Bakugou irritably affirmed.

"That's interesting," Chuuya stated.

"Why?"

"He's got a good heart, and that's about it. No Quirk and little physical strength. Why someone would choose him to mentor over other candidates is a mystery." Chuuya shrugged.

Bakugou frowned. He couldn't disagree, that was the pure harsh truth of it.

XXX

Chuuya sighed with annoyance as he felt the sand get into the cracks of his dress shoes. The beach was his last place to check on. Over the past two weeks, the trash had been slowly yet noticeably disappearing.

His stubbornness was rewarded with the sight of a very visible, grinning AllMight and Bakugou's friend-sort of friend?-Midoriya.

"Hello," Chuuya greeted. He tipped his hat to the two.

Midoriya let out a short scream, let go of the tire he was pulling out of a pile, and fell backwards onto the sand.

AllMight shifted and turned to face the newcomer. His countenance darkened although his grin was firmly cemented in place. "Hello, young man. And who might you be?"

Chuuya's eye twitched. 'Young man?' He was old enough to be AllMight's great grandfather. But Chuuya had far more important things to do then reveal his true age. He smiled and smoothed the irritation off of his face. "I'm Chuuya, a pleasure to meet you AllMight and a pleasure to meet you face to face Midoriya. Are you two cleaning up the beach?"

"Umm, yes! We are. It's for training. Well, physical strength training, because I need that. And um, how do you know of me? Because of my mother? She talks about me a lot, she always tells stories of when I was young..." Midoriya quickly rambled.

"Ah. I see. I thought it was something along that line. Good idea, AllMight. Midoriya should be fit for U.A's Practical Exam by then," Chuuya complimented.

"Why thank you young man," AllMight replied. His blue eyes curiously gleamed. "How do you know of young Midoriya?"

"From one of his classmates," Chuuya nonchalantly replied. He narrowed his eyes as Midoriya frowned and shrunk back at 'classmates'. It was the instinctive skittish action of someone who had been bullied repeatedly. Chuuya kept a slight smile on his face, no need to drive then off or make them suspicious. "I believe he's a friend of yours? Katsuki Bakugou?"

Midoriya's eyes lit up, happy and trusting. "You know Kacchan?"

"Mm-hmm, he's my student," Chuuya explained.

"Oh! You're the ones who's been training him! Are you a pro hero? Or are you a Taekwondo or Karate instructor? Or..."

"Breathe, young Midoriya," AllMight patiently reminded. Midoriya greedily gulped in air, an embarrassed red tint to his cheeks.

Chuuya smirked. "I'm a pro hero. But I work for an agency that is closely tied to the Japanese government, so I might as well be considered an underground hero. Which is why you haven't to heard of me."

Right before AllMight was about to ask a question, Chuuya's phone rang. Chuuya sighed and muttered under his breath as he fished it out from his pocket. "Hello? Ah...it's that...okay. I'll be there soon."

"Is everything alright young man?" AllMight asked. His tone still held curiosity, but also held a strong trace of concern.

Chuuya pressed the end call button and turned to AllMight and Midoriya. "Yeah, just a small error. But they need my help at the office so I have to go. See you two around."

AllMight beamed at Chuuya and gave a thumbs up. "Good luck."

Chuuya smirked. "Thanks."

XXX

The subway wasn't too crowded. A few people chattered and some started talking to the random people next to them. Fortunately, Bakugou didn't have that problem. Having earbuds in meant that strangers acknowledged your want to be alone.

He was split between exhaustion and excitement. On one side, he was completely sure he passed U.A.'s Entrance Exam, with flying colors no less. On the other, he really wanted to jump on his bed and sleep for the next two days.

XXX

"I passed! I got first!" Bakugou yelled.

"Good job!" Mrs. Bakugou happily shouted back.

Bakugou grinned and reached for his phone.

Angry Dandelion Brat: I passed the Entrance Exam.

Mr. Fancy Hat: Good job kid.


	3. Spark

Note: -This represents an introduction.-

"I'm going to the Bakugou house! I'll be back before dinner!" Izuku Midoriya shouted from the door.

Mrs. Midoriya almost dropped the book she was reading. The Bakugou house? That was where Izuku had been going for the past few months? She knew it was a friend's house, one of Izuku's classmates, but she hadn't pressed him for a name. "Okay…have a nice time, dear!"

XXX

Bakugou strolled into the classroom early. He ignored the chattering people around him and picked a desk. He leaned back in his chair, propped his feet on the desk, closed his eyes, and focused on the pulsing beat in his ears.

The first thing Class A-1 learned about Bakugou is that it was a bad idea to interrupt him while he's listening to music.

Iida pulled out Bakugou's earbud, a large frown on his face.

On the other side of the classroom, Deku winced and nervously looked anywhere but at the scene.

Bakugou opened his eyes and glared at Iida. His red eyes were twin pools of furious lava. "What the h**l, Sonic the Hedgehog."

"I apologize, but you couldn't hear what I was saying. Now-"

"That's the point. Leave me alone," Bakugou deadpanned and snatched his earbud out of Iida's hand.

Iida protested but Bakugou couldn't hear him and didn't care. Eventually, Iida figured out that it was a lost cause and moved on.

XXX

The Quirk test the homeroom teacher Aizawa put them through went better then Bakugou expected. Surprisingly, the person in last place, Midoriya, had not been expelled.

Bakugou's eyes narrowed as he walked back to the classroom. He ignored his classmates in favor of thinking over what had happened.

Midoriya had a Quirk? One that was both powerful and broke his bones. Either he'd been hiding it for years-unlikely-or he'd gotten it recently...somehow. Late bloomers happened occasionally...But this late?

Bakugou was knocked out of his thoughts as someone cleared his throat beside him. His teacher, Aizawa, was walking next to him.

Aizawa peered at Bakugou with tired, bloodshot eyes. "You're Chuuya's student, aren't you?"

"Yeah? What's it to you?" Bakugou grumbled.

"You could have gotten in on recommendation, but you didn't," Aizawa pointed out.

"Yeah, so what?" Bakugou growled and crossed his arms.

XXX

Chuuya was counting stock on the tables. The bell at the front of Crimson Moon rang. Bakugou stomped in with a thunderous expression and slammed his backpack down on an empty spot of a table.

"Thanks for not damaging my merchandise," Chuuya observed with a smirk as he turned around. "Now...Why'd you lose?"

Bakugou glared at his boots. "I...wasn't giving it my all. I underestimated Midoriya and Round Face."

"That's why you don't half-a*s things, brat," Chuuya scolded. He lightly slapped the back of Bakugou's head. "Anything else?"

Bakugou's scowl deepened as he simply said, "My teammate was annoying."

"And what did you do?" Chuuya asked mockingly, as he already had an idea.

"I...kinda ignored him," Bakugou meekly admitted. He stuck his hands in his pockets.

"And you lost," Chuuya observed with a pointed glare. "Doing things half a*sed and ignoring your team-when you have one-is a surefire way to get people killed in a fight."

XXX

Midoriya skipped his visits to the Bakugou's house for the weekend. He had beaten Bakugou for the first time, after all. That would definitely sting. It's better to avoid the angry dragon then march right into its cave.

XXX

Monday did not go as Midoriya expected.

"Good job," Bakugou quietly muttered as he passed Midoriya's desk.

Midoriya perked up, a disbelieving look on his face. "Really?" He breathlessly asked as he turned around to watch Bakugou walk to the back.

Bakugou didn't look backwards and rolled his eyes. "Yes, I complimented you. Get over it," he grouchily muttered under his breath.

XXX

Bakugou frowned as someone sat down beside him. He had refused to tell his parents exactly what had happened. They wouldn't really understand everything. And...remembering...gave him chills.

"So, I heard you just flat out attacked someone with a warp Quirk?" Chuuya prompted. He tilted his hat up so Bakugou could see his eyes.

Bakugou huffed, his shoulders relaxed with the realization of who was next to him. "It was their escape plan," he half-heartedly protested.

"Yes, and you should have at least thrown together a plan before you went for a warp Quirk battle 2.0. Improvising is a good skill, but foresight is much more valuable."

XXX

Chuuya, Dazai, and Atsushi all crowded on Chuuya's couch. The TV was turned on and the live UA Sports Festival was on the screen.

The event definitely started off with a bang. Bakugou got up for his speech as representative of A-1 and declared one sentence: "I'm going to win."

Dazai and Chuuya immediately laughed.

"The kid's pretty cocky," Dazai chirped.

Atsushi smiled. "Well, at least he's confident?"

Chuuya snorted. "He's a bit arrogant at times. But in this case...he's right. His chances of winning are better than anyone else's."

"Oh? Care to make a bet?" Dazai offered.

"Of course," Chuuya shot back with a smirk.

XXX

Deku and Bakugou watched some of the other rounds from the stands along with rest of A-1.

"Kacchan, I think it's kind of interesting. You seem to end up in the middle of everything," Midoriya commented.

Bakugo scoffed. "Look at the pot calling the kettle black," he replied.

XXX

Bakugou slammed the door open and scowled. "The f*ck? D*mn, is this the wrong room?"

Todoroki was sitting at a table, looking at his hands, he briefly glanced up.

Bakugou's scowl darkened. That Canadian flag was ignoring him. "Do you want to be a hero, Todoroki?" Bakugou asked. He pulled out the chair in front of Todoroki and sat in it.

"What?" Todoroki replied, more confused that Bakugou actually used his name than anything else.

"I said, 'do you want to be a hero, Todoroki?" Bakugou repeated.

"Of course."

Bakugou sighed and stood up. "Then don't half a*s this," he growled.

XXX

Todoroki half a*sed it. Bakugou was pissed.

XXX

Angry Dandelion Brat: I won.

Mr. Fancy Hat: I saw.

Mr. Fancy Hat: Good job.

Mr. Fancy Hat: You won me some money. XD

XXX

Bakugou was looking over his internship offers. He was thinking of going with Best Jeanist, as the hero was the highest ranked out of his offers.

Mr. Fancy Hat: Accept the offer from the Kuro Agency

Mr. Fancy Hat: It's us.

Angry Dandelion Brat: Yeah, sure

XXX

The place was a small three-story building wedged between two large businesses. The outside was tan bricks, white windows, and a black balcony that jutted out from the second floor. A small sign hung from the hook on the brown door, 'Kuro Agency'.

Bakugou confidently strode inside. The lobby was narrow. It barely managed to fit four chairs and the wooden desk at the end. There was a door next to the desk that lead to a hallway where the offices were.

"Welcome to the Kuro Agency Headquarters, brat," Chuuya drawled. He was very bored, but with good reason; he had been stuck with doing the job of receptionist today. An American quarter rolled over his knuckles as he made slow, precise movements.

The hallway door opened; a brown-haired man peeked out. "Oh? Are you Bakugou?" He cheerfully questioned and opened the door wider. He quickly walked over to Bakugou and happily slung an arm around him, paying no attention to the snarl at the physical contact. "I'm Dazai, Osamu Dazai."

"The f*ck?" Bakugou bluntly asked. "What's with the happiness act? You're probably the saddest a*shole I've met in my life."

A large smirk press across Dazai's face. "Ooo, you're good with reading people...like Chibi. That's good," he chirped in a sickly sweet voice.

Chuuya rolled his eyes and threw a wad of paper at his partner. "Dazai, stop being an a*s, you're freaking the kid out."

Dazai pouted.

The hallway door opened again. "What's going?" Atsushi warily asked. He brightened up as he saw that no one was fighting or yelling and that Bakugou had arrived. "Hey Bakugou, it's good to see you."

Aside from Dazai's miscellaneous weirdness, the first days at Bakugou's internship were pretty calm. But eventually, the first crisis happened. A villain started rampaging downtown.

"It's your turn, Atsushi," Dazai happily reminded.

"But he can control metal," Atsushi protested. "I'm not really suited for this."

Chuuya sighed. "Fine, we'll switch days. Bakugou, grab your stuff."

XXX

Bakugou walked down the street. Aside from the distinct lack of people in the sectioned off area, there wasn't much to signal that a villain attack was going on. Well, aside from the stumps in the concrete pavement, where several lampposts had been torn out of the road.

After he turned the corner, he spotted the villain about two blocks away. Bakugou let off several explosions to announce his presence.

The villain, surrounded by a collection of metal objects, turned around.

-Name: Magnet, AKA Mr. Arashi. Quirk: Polarity. He can control ferromagnetic metals!-

Five metal pipes flew like spears towards Bakugou. He quickly sprinted down the street in a zig-zag pattern. The pipes embedded themselves in the ground. He smirked; he wasn't supposed to use his Quirk, but he didn't need it for this clown.

Magnet scowled. Lengthwise, a slightly crumpled lamppost headed towards Bakugou.

Bakugou spotted a small alleyway a block ahead and threw together a plan. He sprinted towards the lamppost and ducked under the metal. The momentum of the lamppost carried it several feet, until it abruptly came back towards Bakugou. He turned halfway to the right and ran into the alleyway. The lamppost slammed into the sides of the alleyway, stuck.

Magnet swore and raised his hand to send another lamppost at Bakugou. He didn't notice the person flying towards him from the other side of the street.

Chuuya's right foot slammed into the side of Magnet's head. From there, the stunned villain was quickly knocked out and tied up with capture tape.

Magnet was handed over to the police. The pro hero Kamui Wood was given permission to take credit since he had been seen evacuating people from the area. And Chuuya and Bakugou walked away with the media in the dark about their involvement.

XXX

On the sixth day of Bakugou's internship, extremely late in the afternoon, Hosu City was attacked. As had become the usual, Bakugou had decided to hang out at the Kuro Agency Headquarters and then head back home with Chuuya.

There was a long sitting area in the hallway, on the opposite side of each Agency members office. Bakugou was sprawled out on one couch. On the other, Dazai seemed to being sleeping, headphones on his ears.

Dazai's phone rang and he pulled his headphones down. He glanced at the name. It was Tsuragamae Kenji, Chief of the Police Force, and picked up. "Hello."

"Hello, Dazai," Chief Tsuragamae greeted. "You've undoubtedly heard about Hosu. The League of Villains and Stain were working together. We've taken Stain into custody, which is good. However, the League will take advantage of Stain's reputation and grow."

Dazai shook his head. "They may have showed up at the same time, but I don't believe it," he coldly denied. "The League of Villains isn't Stain's style...Yet, you are right. The League will grow because of this. And that's a problem that is going to be hard to deal with."

"Yes. You should also know about this. There were three children, heroes in training, from UA. They were the ones who took down Stain," Chief Tsuragamae informed.

"Ah," Dazai said in mild surprise. "That's interesting. May I get their names?"

"Of course. Izuku Midoriya, Tenya Iida, and Shouto Todoroki. They encountered Stain in an alley with a wounded pro and intervened." Chief Tsuragamae sighed. "They're good kids. It is a shame they can't take credit."

"Yes, yes it is indeed," Dazai muttered as he looked at the three names he had written on his hand with a nearby pen. "But rules are rules, as much as we want to make exceptions."

XXX

Midoriya's character died. He frowned slightly and started waiting for his character to respawn. "I was involved in the Stain thing. Well...that is...uh...I was nearby," he stammered. "Anyways, I've been thinking about it. Maybe...Stain was right? I mean, like...not completely right, of course."

Bakugou snorted as his character lobbed a flash grenade through a window. "Stain was wrong. Nevermind about the standard of 'true' pro heroes being stupid. Because, believe me, Stain's standard is a stupid standard. Heroes are just people who help and inspire others. Being a pro hero is a job. But where Stain really messed up? Well, he thought he could start a wildfire by snuffing out the dim sparks. But all that does is make the room darker."

(Bakugou immediately ruined the moment created by his sort of poetic argument by getting a double kill and only laughing in reply to the trash talking of the enemy team.)


	4. Branch

They were supposed to go to this training camp. But to get there they had to tramp through a forest while fighting.

And then Bakugou spent most of time putting his hands in hot water, screaming, and making the largest explosions he could.

It only took a day or so before everything went to h*ll, of course. Because for some reason villains loved attacking class A-1.

And for some reason...The League of Villains wanted to recruit him. Why now? More importantly, why him? Bakugou wracked his brains for an answer as he jogged behind the group of his classmates.

They had banded together in order to protect him, which was some startling bull. He, the best fighter in the entire first year section, needed bodyguards?

The only time he was really in the spotlight recently was the Sports Festival. And sure, he got restrained and ranted on camera. But he was pissed at Half and Half. Not society or some s*it like that.

But apparently the villains were totally on board with assuming an angry hero in training would just switch sides after a little coaxing. Maybe they just assumed every mad person in Japan had a bone to pick with pro heroes.

Bakugou's thoughts were cut off rather abruptly.

XXX

Dazai clicked his tongue at the news.

Chuuya had immediately become pissed and went to work off some steam.

Atsushi went even quieter then usual. He retreated to his office and closed the door.

Dazai stayed in the break room room, on the couch. His laptop balanced on his knees.

UA's class A-1 had been attacked yet again. Bakugou had been kidnapped. A classmate of Bakugou's, Tokoyami, was almost kidnapped.

Dazai narrowed his eyes at the picture of Tokoyami and looked up videos of the student's Sports Festival matches. He had noted it before when watching the Bakugou vs Tokoyami fight. Tokoyami's Quirk was...weirdly familiar to an ability Dazai knew inside and out.

He got into the Tokoyami family records. Dazai raised his eyebrows, he was correct. The name of Tokoyami's grandfather was unknown. His description was familiar-black hair with white tips-and the name, a first name, that he gave at the hospital desk was 'Ryuunosuke'.

Dazai smirked, albeit softly. "Never knew you had children before you kicked the bucket, Akutagawa."

He went back to the reports on the Training Camp attack. Eyes thoughtful as he mused, "It's rather ironic that descendants of the Port Mafia and the Armed Detective Agency were targeted by villains." His smirk deepened. "And that the one who got away was the Port Mafia one. Plus, Tokoyami is a top hero in training, even more of an irony considering his grandfather's identity.

"I should probably keep on eye on him. He's the grandkid of my old apprentice after all," Dazai decided as he stretched out his arms.

"But, enough distractions, back to finding Bakugou."

XXX

Bakugou's mouth was muzzled and his hands had been chained.

The members of the League of Villain's leered at him as they sat around a bar.

A guy who really needed to use lotion and chapsticks was doing a whole spiel, and Bakugou was really bored. He payed attention to the TV mostly, the UA meeting with the press. Aizawa was there, in a suit no less.

He almost sighed as the pale speaker-with severed hands all over him, bad hygiene, and not the best fashion sense-finished his speech and then ordered for him to be released. Apparently the guy was the leader...although he did not seem like the best option out of them. Bakugou would vote for the scarred guy, Fire & Scars, as the best option; to be honest, the guy was an a*s but seemed to have his s*it together.

On the TV screen, Aizawa answered a question about Bakugou. It was obvious to Bakugou that the teacher was annoyed that the question of Bakugou joining the League was even asked. He supported Bakugou wholeheartedly and upheld that his student wouldn't become a Villain. Well, as wholeheartedly as someone who was almost always tired could sound.

Bakugou grinned as the restraints were undone and he immediately exploded the hand on Bad Hygiene's face off. Honestly, the hands were creepy. And the fact that the guy said, "Father," in a dazed unhappy voice right after that. Did this guy kill his Dad then take the man's hand? Cause if so, that'd be f*cked up.

He shook the morbid thoughts off and made his own counter speech. "Your plan of changing things is bull. All the League of Villains is going to do is get people killed if you don't win, and if you do-fat chance of that by the way-you're just going to f*ck everyone over worse," He grinned at their expressions and readied himself for a crazy close-combat fight.

Fortunately, All Might punched his way through the wall a few seconds later.

XXX

Dazai heard about the raid. H**l, he was the person in charge of managing it.

But one action he took paraded darkly through his mind. Not letting him forget what he had done only a few hours earlier.

He had pulled out a book, the Book. All For One was sure to be involved. The situation was dangerous. Bakugou's only saving grace at this point was that Shigaraki thought the kid could be swayed.

He opened the Book and turned the pages. Dazai listlessly read over the faint destiny-changing scrawls. He stopped at the seventeenth page. Where there were four words, 'Fyodor Dostoevsky dies today.'

'Is it worth the risk?' He asked himself. There was no way to be sure what kind of rebound there would be.

His lips tightened and thinned into a small line. 'D*mn the consequences,' Dazai decided. He had made a promise.

He picked up a heavy pen. Below 'Fyodor Dostoevsky dies today' he methodically scratched another sentence.

'All for One is captured, and Katsuki Bakugou is rescued.'

XXX

Well, things had gone downhill yet again. Bakugou had been teleported to another hideout, where the real mastermind behind the League was. Apparently the old man's name was All for One...or something.

All Might showed up again to rescue Bakugou. He and the mastermind were duking it out.

Right now, Bakugou was dodging his way around the other members of the League of Villains. He let the Crazy Blood Girl get close to him, then grabbed the knife out of her hand and kicked her away.

With a sharp knife in one hand, his odds of survival was a bit better. He dodged out of the way of the Adult Mutant Ninja Turtle's bizarre sword made of swords.

Crazy Blood Girl clipped Bakugou with a knife as he exploded the fake League leader, Bad Hygiene, in the face.

Bakugou exploded Magician Wannabe in the chest. He was not letting himself get stuck in a ball again.

He tried to to score a hit on Adult Mutant Ninja Turtle. But the knife was unable to get through the scales. He scowled, executed a neat turn, and slashed Magician Wannabe's hand as it drew too close for comfort.

Bakugou exploded everyone around him back. Then he saw a large ramp of ice and something flying across the battlefield.

"Come on!" Kirishima pleaded and held out his hand.

Bakugou grinned and quickly flew into the sky. The explosions knocked the villains off their feet.

He grabbed Kirishima's hand. Iida and Midoriya were holding onto Kirishima as well. Bakugou couldn't stop the genuine, large, unthreatening grin that spread across his face. "You're all idiots!"

His classmates, at least a few of them, had come to rescue him.

XXX

They met up with Todoroki and Momo nearby. They watched the battle between All Might and All for One on the large screens.

Bakugou was shocked at the reveal of All Might's small, skinny form. Because, that couldn't be All Might? He glanced to his left, Midoriya didn't even looked shocked, he just looked worried. Bakugou filed that piece of info in the back of his head to think about later.

Eventually, the crowd got over their shock. The cheering and cries of supporters were heard.

Bakugou felt himself screaming, "Win, All Might!" Along with Midoriya, along with the crowd, along with countless other people in Japan who were watching.

All Might won.

Bakugou had a foreboding feeling as he stared at the hero. All Might was in his famous pose, left arm held up in triumph. He had a feeling that was the last time All Might would fight. The last time the public saw the Number 1 hero.

"You're...next," All Might declared as he pointed at the camera.

The crowd cheered. Midoriya cried.

Bakugou frowned at his childhood friend.

'What if All Might lost?' Kunikida's question resurfaced in Bakugou's mind. He cynically snorted. 'What if All Might retired? What if All Might died?'

'I don't think any of those questions were asked by really anyone about All Might until today. In a way...the villains have won. They have shaken the public's confidence.' Bakugou narrowed his red eyes at the screen. 'But I'll be d*mned if I let them win the war.'

XXX

Chuuya took one look at his apprentice, forced him upstairs, and shoved a cup of tea in his hands.

Bakugou's dam of bottled up emotions broke. Salty tears poured out from his eyes and dripped into his tea, ruining the taste. He sniffled and bit his lip. "I'm responsible," he choked out. "It's my fault. It's all my fault."

"It isn't, Brat. It isn't your fault," Chuuya reassured.

"Yes, it is. If it wasn't for me...All Might wouldn't have..." Bakugou broke down into unintelligible sobs.

Chuuya sighed. He took off his glove and put his hand on Bakugou's head. "Brat, listen to me. It hurts, it hurts to survive sometimes. But you have to survive as long as you can, otherwise all the sacrifices people made, everything they did, would be for nothing."

"But...I'm...I'm responsible," Bakugou whispered.

"You aren't responsible for All Might or the League of Villains. Okay? Bakugou, look at me. You are responsible for your own actions, not the actions of others. You did not cause All Might's retirement, okay?"

"...Okay." Bakugou slouched, his eyes returned to the ground.

Chuuya scowled and pulled his apprentice's chin up. "Katsuki Bakugou, listen to me," he demanded.

Bakugou's eyes were dull, and his sclera was reddened from crying.

"Brat..." Chuuya trailed off and sighed. He put a hesitant arm around his apprentice.

Without any further invitation needed, Bakugou started crying onto Chuuya's vest.

"It's okay, Katsuki," Chuuya repeatedly murmured.

Eventually, Bakugou was all cried out. He was so exhausted by it that he fell asleep.

"Well, guess we're not training today," Chuuya joked as he picked up his student. "Hopefully, Mrs. Bakugou will be willing to give me some of her baked goods when I drop him off."

XXX

Chuuya knocked on the door.

After a yell and a thud from inside the house, Mrs. Bakugou opened it. "Oh, hello, Mr. Chuuya. Did he fall asleep after training?"

Chuuya briefly weighed the pros and cons of telling the mother. "I came by to drop him off. Do you mind if we talk inside?"

"Of course. Set him on the couch in the living room," Mrs. Bakugou ordered.

Chuuya nodded and did as requested.

Mrs. Bakugou sat down and then snapped her fingers. "Ah, how rude of me. I didn't offer you anything. Would you like a cup of tea? Or coffee?"

"No, thank you. I don't plan to stay long," Chuuya politely refused. He sat down in the other armchair.

"So...What did you want to talk about?" Mrs. Bakugou prompted. She looked at him expectantly.

"Bakugou...had a breakdown," Chuuya carefully said as he watched the mother's reaction. She looked sad and resigned. "I honestly wouldn't expect anything but that after getting kidnapped by the League. It would be a traumatic experience for many pro heroes, even. He has...well, Bakugou feels responsible."

Mrs. Bakugou furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "For what?"

"For...All Might's retirement."

"Ah." Mrs. Bakugou dropped her gaze.

"I will do my best to support him. And I know you two will as well. Which is why I thought it was best we were on the same page."

"Thank you. For telling me." Mrs. Bakugou smiled and looked at her son, sleeping on the couch. "You give the brat praise when he works hard. And that really has made a difference. Both Masaru and I have noticed. So thank you."

"You're welcome. Thank you for entrusting his training to me. It's been a pleasure to teach and watch him grow over the past few years.

"This won't break him, I'm sure of that. If anything, it will make him more determined."

"I believe it," Mrs. Bakugou murmured. "That's my Katsuki. He won't allow anything to douse that fire of his for long."

XXX

Midoriya: Um

Midoriya: How about we go to my house this time?

Midoriya: I got the new Call of Duty last week

Bakugou stared at his phone. He sighed and carefully tapped out a reply.

Kacchan: Okay.

XXX

There was a knock at the door.

Inko Midoriya quickly turned down the stove heat. "Coming!" She scurried over to the door. "Katsuki?" She gasped in surprise.

The blond teenager awkwardly stared at her. "Hey, Auntie Inko."

"It has been ages." She gave a watery smile. "How have you been doing?" The mother's eyes were twin pools of heartfelt concern. She had heard about Bakugou's kidnapping, everyone had.

"I'm..." Bakugou paused and reconsidered the 'I'm great' he had felt like immediately tossing out. "I'm...doing fine."

Midoriya skidded to a halt beside his mother. "Hey Kacchan. I set it up in my room."

Inko watched TV in the living room. She smiled as she listened to the cries of excitement and mutters coming from her son's room. It had been a while since he brought a friend home.

XXX

All for One had been jailed and restrained. He couldn't move at all, aside from the slight rise and fall of his chest. If he did move at all aside from breathing, an elite force would likely crush him in under a minute.

Someone stood outside his cell. They put a metal folding chair on the floor.

"Hello," the man stated as he sat down on the chair. He had a large grin on his face, barely recognizable as faked. A tan trench was lazily draped over his thin frame. His extremely common brown hair and brown eyes did nothing to cement him as someone of note. But what drew All for One's attention was that part of the man's skin-his wrists, his neck and his ankles-were swathed in bandages.

"I'm going to be your interrogator," the man announced with a happy smile.

No, All for One realized, the smile was not happy. It was the opposite of happy, it was a dark, unsettling smile. It was a cavern of unfathomable depth and emptiness.

"A pleasure to meet you," the interrogator chirped.


	5. Fire

The exam for pro hero licenses started.

"I'm heading off," Bakugou announced. He jogged away from his class to the right. On the left, Todoroki was leaving as well, albeit silently.

Kirishima had already run and caught up with Bakugou.

Midoriya frowned. "But, Kacchan. What about-"

"Don't worry Midoriya, we got his back," Kaminari promised. He then booked it after his two friends.

XXX

Aizawa and Miss Joke sat in the stands for the pro hero license exam.

"It's frustrating not being able to see who passed or failed," Aizawa commented.

"Yeah. And our Shindo made it even harder by splitting up the ground, too. Hm? What? Are you worried?" Joke excitedly asked.

"There's something I've realized after watching Class A-1. They may not realize it, but in Class A-1 there are two people whose presence has a big effect. They're not leaders, or the most popular, and they barely manage to get along most days. But...before I knew it, their passion had spread to the rest of the class. It's strange, but one of them is always in the middle of things, and the other usually follows. Joke, I'm not worried. I just can't wait to see what they will do. Even if they're not physically with everyone, their presence raises the standard for the whole class."

Miss Joke smiled as she blew a bubble of gum. "You've fallen for them hard, huh?"

XXX

The second task was to rescue civilians. In his frustration, Bakugou snapped and started ranting at everyone around him. Kaminari and Sero held him back. The two H.U.C. employees cowered back from the furious hero in training.

The announcement of the villain attack cooled his head.

"Sero, Kaminari, get down there and help them. Focus on rescue," Bakugou growled. Never mind, he was still a bit angry. "The villains are probably going to head there first." Well the good news is that Bakugou could go blow off some steam now.

"Sounds good," Sero agreed.

Bakugou rushed off.

On the way to the the first aid center, Sero and Kaminari took a slower pace in order to accommodate the two people on their backs. If Bakugou had still been there, he would have forced them to speed up, but as he wasn't, so they spent their time getting there.

XXX

Apparently, Icyhot was half-a*sing this exam too. Because he was having a tiff with a broad guy who could control wind. The hoard of villains led by Gang Orca were right in front of them.

Midoriya had to save the hero in training that was his look alike from the mix of wayward flames and wind. He shouted, "What are you doing?"

Bakugou shook his head and sped up. "Honestly, they're being idiots, and at their provisional license exam," he grumbled.

Gang Orca attacked the two distracted heroes in training.

Bakugou glanced over as Todoroki and Inasa teamed up. The exhausted heroes in training worked together to make a whirlwind of fire and wind spin around Gang Orca.

"I'm going to go help those two morons! You guys good?" Bakugou shouted towards the battle between heroes in training and the minions.

A chorus of yes's replied.

Bakugou smirked and flew towards the ball of wind and flame. 'Eventually, those two are going to get tired. Which is when I need to hit Gang Orca with an explosion. He's weak against heat, which should work out well.'

The flames and wind died down slightly. Gang Orca got rid of the remains of the attack with a pulse of sonic waves. But, he wasn't expecting the massive explosion from above.

Bakugou backed off. He stayed high in the air in a rough imitation of a hover, steady explosions under his hands keeping himself airborne.

Gang Orca jumped up and sent out a sonic wave towards his new attacker.

Bakugou responded with an explosion that filled the sky with smoke.

Gang Orca carefully watched the plume of smoke for movement. Several explosions were heard, louder than the ones Bakugou had been using to propel himself earlier.

Using the distraction of the villain team to his advantage, Midoriya launched a quick rescue of Inasa.

Bakugou dropped out of the cloud all of a sudden. A tunnel of wind and smoke around him as he headed towards Gang Orca like a missile.

Gang Orca braced himself. He sent out a strong wave of sound, but that did little to slow down the student's attack.

"Howitzer Impact!" Bakugou screamed right before his punch connected. The wind from the impact swept through the region. Gang Orca was blown back, but righted himself and prepared to attack.

Todoroki created a block of ice to shield himself. The guy he'd been arguing with, Inasa, covered himself with his Quirk and only suffered a few scrapes. Midoriya dropped to the ground and dug his hands into the hard ground. The nearby villains were scattered like bowling pins.

The announcer intervened before Gang Orca could launch his counterattack, "Um, at this moment. All the H.U.C. who were deployed have been rescued from the danger zone," the tired exam supervisor explained. "It may seem arbitrary, but with this, all the provisional licensing exam procedure as have been completed. After we tally the scores, we will announce the results here. Those of you who were injured should go to the infirmary. The rest of you should change and then standby."

"Boss, sorry. We couldn't do our job," one of the minions, actually one of Gang Orca's employees, apologized. "These restraining protectors make it really hard it move, huh?"

"No, even without the protectors, that spiral of flame was excellent. As was the surprise attack and Bakugou's use of explosions. Midoriya was on standby and rescued two incapacitated allies. If the test had gone on longer...or..." Gang Orca trailed off. He had mixed feeling about what had happened, but pride in the next generation of heroes came out in top. He actually could have lost.

XXX

"Okay, everyone, thanks for all your hard work. Now, I will announce the results, but before that I will tell you about our scoring system. Between those of us at the Heroes Public Safety Commission and H.U.C, we had a two-fold demerit system we used while watching you. In other words, we were evaluating on how few mistakes you made in a crisis situation. Anyway, here are the names of those who passed in alphabetical order. Please check the list, keeping those words in mind."

The announcer gestured to a large blank screen. Names popped up.

Bakugou scowled as he scoured the screen. He could hear his heart pumping in his chest.

He almost screamed as he spotted the place where his name should have been but wasn't.

XXX

They went to Ground Beta.

"So, I've stayed silent on the subject for a while. Tell me, Midoriya, who'd you get your Quirk from?" Bakugou requested.

"What? I...I...I was just a late bloomer. That's...that's all," Midoriya sputtered.

"Did you get it from All Might?"

Midoriya immediately paled.

"It was obvious you and All Might were connected. Even Half and Half, oblivious as he is, could see it. But all of our classmates' theories were missing a very important fact. Perhaps the most important factor. A year ago, you didn't have a Quirk."

"Yes, I got it from All Might," Midoriya affirmed.

Bakugou provoked Deku into an all out fight-by hitting him repeatedly-and won. All Might showed up. And...tried to hug him? Bakugou just kind of stood there for a bit then brushed the retired pro off.

And...apparently Bakugou wasn't responsible for All Might's retirement. Oh, and he learned all about All for One and One for All.

XXX

Bakugou scowled, four days of being stuck in the dorms. Midoriya got three days, since he didn't start the fight.

And although Aizawa had said morning and night, he allowed them to stop for the day after they did the hallways, nearby sidewalks, and dorm common room.

XXX

Bakugou had to take a three month remedial course. With Half and Half, because he hadn't passed either.

There were two others Bakugou had to deal with. Inasa was oblivious and weird. But, Camie was kind of cool, and funny, Bakugou begrudgingly admitted.

Hands down, the craziest part of it was dealing with the class of kids. They had some bizarre Quirks and were all little s*ts in Bakugou's opinion.

Admittedly, he wasn't wrong about that. The kids were snobby, narcissistic, and didn't listen nine times out of ten.

They eventually softened up. After the heroes in training figured out a way to have fun with the kids. Mainly, Todoroki created a very large ice slide for them to play on.

Bakugou had a lot of fun destroying the ice slide when the time for the day ended.

XXX

Dazai perked up as he saw Chuuya walk in the office hallway. "Chuuuuuya," he cheerfully drew out his coworker's name.

Chuuya gave a small sigh. He slid his office key into his pocket as he irritably took the bait. "What?"

"I have a job I need you to do," Dazai chirped. He typed something into his phone.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"It has to do with a rescue-raid operation that's in the works," Dazai explained.

There was a small buzz from Chuuya's phone as it received a text message. He pulled it out.

Mackerel: Operation-Rescue Eri

There was a file attached. Chuuya glanced it over and gave a small hum. "This...does look interesting."

XXX

There was a little girl who was being held by a villain organization. Her name was Eri and the scum was the Eight Precepts of Death. The small group was declared to be extremely dangerous. Chuuya was put as the silent supervisor for the Rescue Eri mission.

He was only supposed to get involved if things went really sideways, like if Overhaul was escaping. It was reasonable, but Dazai's advice of being on standby still chaffed. Chuuya was irritated as he leaned against the outside of the hideout. He scowled and almost wished for a message asking for help. Almost, because a call for help would likely mean the pro hero was severely injured.

Apparently, the maze of hallways was twisting around. And the entrance to the basement where Eri and some villains-Overhaul undoubtedly one of them-were. Mirio, able to phase through the walls, went first.

Chuuya swore. What was the kid thinking? One hero vs an unknown amount of villains with Eri as a liability. Those were bad odds.

He considered the death of a hero in training reason enough to interfere. And if Dazai didn't agree, Chuuya would just punch his coworker for being an a*s.

Luckily he knew the layout, and carefully punched his way through to the basement.

Those in the basement felt the strong reoccurring shivers. Overhaul frowned and put a hand on the wall to steady himself.

With a restrained spinning kick on his chosen spot, Chuuya created a several feet wide hole. Pieces of plaster clunked and shattered into smaller clumps as they hit the ground.

Mirio jumped in front of Eri.

The immortal ginger stared at the scene before him. He glanced from Mirio and Eri to the villains. His lips curled down into a scowl as he saw Shin's finger on the trigger of a gun, about to pull it. A bullet would undoubtedly speed towards the youngsters in a split second.

"No!" Chuuya yelled. He flung a hand out his hand as a slight bit of unfamiliar panic rushed through him. He couldn't allow Mirio or Eri to die. A patch of red tinted air slid around Mirio and Eri.

The wounded Shin saw the barrier and heard the shout. He turned the gun on the newcomer.

With his concentration focused on keeping Mirio and Eri safe, Chuuya didn't notice the bullet until after it had been shot. He turned slightly at the loud crack. The Quirk erasing bullet hit him in the chest. The boom of the gun firing rammed into the ears of everyone in the basement as Chuuya fell forwards.

Chuuya wasn't dead but he was mad and flipping out. That wouldn't kill him, but it would make him unable to help the kids from being murdered. He took shallow, slow breaths and forced his shoulders to stay still.

Midoriya charged in. He apparently had the same cliche superhero idea as Chuuya did because the kid broke into the basement by punching a hole.

Sir Nighteye fought as Midoriya and Mirio ran to Chuuya's basement entrance with Eri. Sir Nighteye was impaled by spikes as they escaped.

Overhaul was turning the corner, chasing after the fleeing group. But he felt a sudden weight on his feet. As if someone had suddenly switched his shoes to ones made of pure gold. He narrowed his eyes as the ginger man who had been shot by the Quirk erasing bullet calmly stood up and brushed himself off.

The bullet wound was still clearly there. It had torn a hole in the fabric of the tan vest.

Overhaul glanced down at his feet. The red glow around them clearly meant the man's Quirk was being used. He glared at Chuuya. "How," he hissed through his teeth, the sound muffled slightly by his mask. "No Quirk has been exempt so far."

"Well, if no Quirk is exempt..." Chuuya trailed off. He smirked knowingly.

Overhaul stiffened as he realized what the unaffected man meant. 'If no Quirk is exempt...then that's not a Quirk.' Except, there was no way it couldn't be a Quirk? It had to be, right? Perhaps the unknown pro hero was just messing with him?

While those thoughts plagued him, the villain prepared to break Chuuya's concentration and escape. "Who, what, are you?" Overhaul asked.

The redheaded man gave a crooked smile. "The bad guy's enemy," he announced simply.

Overhaul didn't have time to react to the lightning-fast punch. Pain shot through his face as the gloved hand broke his jaw. The subsequent quick jabs to his solar plexus made him almost wish he was unconscious as he clenched his teeth. Fortunately or unfortunately for him, the villain's wish was fulfilled momentarily.

XXX

Chuuya tied up the unconscious Overhaul and oversaw the villains being taken into custody.

Eri was under the custody of Shota Aizawa.

That was the end of the Eight Precepts of Death.

XXX

Todoroki and Bakugou were walking back on the last day to the dorms.

Bakugou pulled out his ear buds. He turned off his music with a click. "Hey, Half and Half, I have something to say."

Todoroki looked at his classmate. It was unusual, he noted, Bakugou's voice was calm and serious. "What is it?" He asked neutrally.

Bakugou stuck his cold hands in his pockets. "People who don't give their all piss me off. Because it means you think you can get by half-a*sing it. You're looking down on others if you think you can win without giving it your all. That's why I blew up at the Sports Festival. And...I overheard your conversation with Midoriya. So I understand about your dad," Bakugou muttered.

A coil of tension wrapped around Todoroki's chest. His shoulders went rigid and a frown settled on his face.

Bakugou glanced at Todoroki and quickly continued on. "But, limiting yourself as a hero means limiting the amount of lives you could save."

The words were a hammer to Todoroki's chest, knocking the air out of his lungs. He stopped walking.

Bakugou stopped as well. He turned his head towards Todoroki and shrugged. "So...That's my two cents. Take it or leave it."

Todoroki gave a long, slow nod. His shoulders lowered, relaxing. "I have...changed my views on my Quirk, as you've seen. But I recently realized I need to own up to my past decisions and how they affected others. So...thank you...for being honest."

They started walking again.

The breeze that came and went was cold. Bakugou had to hold back a shiver, even though he was bundled up in a T-shirt, sweater, and coat. Todoroki was fine, his coat was thick and he was wearing sweatpants. He occasionally warmed his hands up with a few sparks of his fire.

Bakugou didn't put his ear buds back in. He waited a few seconds, during which he constantly glanced at Todoroki. The small frown seemed stuck to his classmate's face.

The blond teenager smirked. "Honestly, though, 'All Might's secret love child?' That's what you came up with?"

Todoroki blushed slightly. His pale skin did nothing to help him hide his embarrassment. "It...seemed the most plausible theory at the time."

Bakugou shook his head with a bark of laughter. "You're f*cking ridiculous, Half and Half."

Todoroki's usually monotone voice was gone. "It was plausible," he protested.

Bakugou shot Todoroki a smirk and raised an eyebrow in disbelief. The message of a doubting 'really?' easily seen.

Todoroki rolled his eyes. He couldn't stop the slight smile that curled onto his face.

XXX

The office was quiet. Everyone else had gone home already.

Dazai was slouched on the sofa in the hallway. He was reading through files on his laptop.

The Eight Precepts of Death had collaborated with the Fukui. Chisaki was kind enough to be thorough in his reports regarding them.

There still wasn't much, that was to be expected. Fukui was a troublesome organisation.

The name meant 'fortunate'. Their base also seemed to be located in the Fukui prefecture, north-west of Musutafu.

Dazai had taken on the hobby of keeping an eye on them after an altercation a few years back.

XXX

The door to Crimson Moon was wrenched open. The bell gave two brief jittery chimes, as if spooked by the sudden appearance of Bakugou.

The teenager stomped over to the alcove, where Chuuya was sitting and waiting for customers.

"I got my license, finally," Bakugou grumbled. He slammed the piece of plastic onto the counter.

Chuuya glanced up and slipped his phone in his pocket. He leaned back and drawled, "Good. Learned anything from having to take those classes?"

Bakugou paused as he remembered the advice he had to give to that one kid. He shook the thought off, physically, by shaking his head. "Not really."

"Make any new friends?" Chuuya pried. He leaned forward and propped his elbows on the counter.

"The f*ck?" Bakugou immediately replied, caught off guard. He winced. "No? Why?"

"Uh huh," Chuuya skeptically hummed and leaned back again. "Just checking."

"Why?" Bakugou narrowed his eyes at his mentor suspiciously.

"You've sent me a suspicious amount of memes recently," Chuuya pointed out.

Bakugou winced. 'Note to self, tone down on sending memes to Chuuya.'

"So, yeah." Chuuya shrugged. "You made a new friend...or two. Who is it?" He asked.

Bakugou sighed. He gave up. Chuuya was very determined and annoying when he pried into his life. "She's not really a friend. Just someone I took the course with," he muttered defensively.

A smirk crept onto Chuuya's face, one that was similar to Dazai's. "Not a friend, yet you made the effort to keep in contact with her?"

Bakugou's expression soured. "I didn't ask her for her number or anything like that!"

"Oh? Then how'd you get it?"

"She gave it to me."

"A girl gave you her number?"

"It's not like that!" Bakugou protested, his ears went red.

Chuuya hummed in reply. The tone obviously doubtful.

"You're spending too much time with Dazai," Bakugou spat out, annoyed.

"Thank you," Chuuya jokingly replied. He sighed. "Admittedly, I did get stuck on a stakeout with him last night." He waved a hand nonchalantly. "But that just now was more because I'm bored. And to see if you're dealing with people getting under your skin better. Which, I'm glad to see, you are. But back to my original question, you did learn something, even what you were supposed to learn."

Bakugou stared at his mentor, unamused. "Dazai is definitely rubbing off on you."


	6. Wood

The Next Year

Chuuya walked into the Kuro office-the bell tinkled behind him. He paused upon hearing. . . nothing. Usually there was some sound, Dazai's teasing, Atsushi's welcome, the clatter of computer keys. . .

They should be here-there were no large catastrophes in the area Chuuya knew of.

But the place remained silent, gloomy.

Chuuya entered the hallway. "Guys?" He called out. There was no one on the hallway couches. "Dazai?" He opened his partner's office door.

Dazai had a book in his hands, but there was a blank expression on his face. His eyes were empty. He blinked, noticing Chuuya's entrance. A smile twisted itself forcibly onto his lips, a painful sight to look at. "Ah, Chuuya. What are you doing here?"

"I work here," Chuuya reminded, a bit sarcastically. His gaze drifted past Dazai to the calendar on the wall-it was largely unmarked. "Today's the day Kunikida-san died, isn't it?"

Dazai's expression turned guarded. "Yes, I do believe it's the anniversary," he quietly agreed.

Chuuya sighed and sat down. "We've all lost a lot of people, especially over the past three decades. Kunikida was the last one alive of. . . ." He trailed off and cleared his throat. "He always was a stubborn b*stard."

Dazai nodded carefully, as if the movement could break him. "Yes, we have lost a lot of people." He put down the book he wasn't reading and joked with a smirk, "He'd be surprised at how much work I'm doing."

XXX

The entirety of Class A-2 was sprawled out in the common room. They didn't know how it started, but an argument sprung up. As usual, Bakugou was yelling.

"You burnt my eggs! I'm not letting you use my pan!"

"That was years ago, Kacchan!" Midoriya furiously spat back.

"Did Deku just yell back at Bakugou?" Uraraka whispered.

"Is anybody seeing this? I'm not hallucinating, right?" Sero asked.

Class A-1's eyes were glued to the two arguing friends.

"Two years ago, you burnt our rice, Deku! That was not that long ago!" Bakugou pointed out.

Midoriya frowned. "It's hard, okay!"

"No, it isn't," Bakugou countered. "You just had to put in enough water."

"How was I supposed to know it wasn't enough?" Midoriya protested.

Bakugou gave a long-suffering sigh. "I swear to... Deku, did your mom ever teach you to cook?"

Midoriya looked at his friend, mystified. "No?"

Bakugou swore. "That's why you've had problems with cooking for the past decade? No one ever-okay, we're fixing your sad lack of cooking experience today."

"Ummm..." Midoriya awkwardly trailed off. "Umm, Kacchan, how?"

"There's a kitchen in the dorms, Deku," Bakugou deadpanned.

"Oh," Midoriya replied. He gave a sheepish smile.

"What is up with you guys today?" Kaminari bluntly asked. Several of his classmates nodded.

"What's up?" Bakugou raised an eyebrow at his classmates. "You heard. I'm teaching Deku how to cook."

The rest of the class watched, frozen in shock, as Bakugou and Midoriya walked out of the common room. As they walked out, they elbowed and argued with each other as if they were brothers or best friends and not as people who had been incredibly awkward around each other for years.

About three hours later, the duo came back. Deku's hair still had a smattering of flour in it.

As all her classmates floundered, Momo took charge. After all, this was a good change, and they shouldn't be made to feel awkward about being friends. "How'd it go?" Momo politely asked.

The two boys winced.

Midoriya sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and dropped his gaze to the floor, embarrassed.

Bakugou gave an exasperated sigh. "Well, he can make eggs now. So that's... something. We're working on French toast tomorrow. Does anyone want some for breakfast?"

XXX

It was getting late. But many of the students at UA's dorms were still up. They were gathered in the common room, right in front of the entrance.

There was a man walking down the path. He was dressed rather elegantly. He had red hair and wore a black fedora.

Kaminari, Kirishima, Sero, and Mina had been out getting drinks. They were about five feet away from the man, walking in the same direction' towards their dorm.

Kaminari gasped. "Who is that guy? Is he a villain?"

"Dude." Sero shook his head.

The man was about ten feet from the dorm entrance.

"I mean, look at him, he even dresses like a villain! Classic backstory, people discriminated against him because he's... small... And now he wants vengeance!" Kaminari bellowed.

The man turned on his heel and stopped walking. "What did you just say?" He questioned, a dangerous look in his eyes.

Kaminari jumped. Unfortunately, fear and anxiety made his powers go haywire. A strong bolt flew out from him and hit the man.

The man scowled. He seemed completely unfazed, only slightly annoyed. "Did you call me short, kid?"

"He is a villain," Kaminari declared with horror.

Several students burst out of the plexiglass doors from behind the man.

"Stop right there, villain!" Iida exclaimed.

The rest of the students that had been in the common room followed.

Kirishima leapt forward and tried to punch the man. His punch was dodged, and he tripped as he was shoved into the gathered mass of students from the common room.

Taking advantage of her target being distracted, Uraraka sprung forward. She tapped the man on the back, activating her ability.

However, the now weightless man recognized the feeling and merely smirked. He went with it for the moment. Chuuya used Sero's face as a kick board to gain some momentum and spun around in the air like a gymnast. He caught Iida's kick with a hand as he spun and slammed the blue haired teen into the ground.

Chuuya activated For the Tainted Sorrow, reversing the effects of Uraraka's Quirk, and landed lightly on his feet. The red aura dissipated. He punched a hardened Kirishima in the jaw. To the shock of the students, there seemed to be no damage to the man's fist and Kirishima was knocked back at the ability-enhanced blow.

Todoroki and Mina both stayed back. They couldn't attack for fear of injuring classmates.

Chuuya blocked Ojiro's tail, then tripped Sero into Kaminari and Kirishima. He jumped back as Dark Shadow lunged for him.

Momo and Jiro both charged him from the front.

In response, Chuuya slid his right foot farther away to give himself a more balanced stance.

Held by an invisible hand, a taser recently created by Momo was jabbed into the man's back.

It was a good plan for capturing someone. However, the girls had not taken into account the clothing the man wore. Thick clothing doesn't conduct electricity well. Albeit, the girls couldn't reasonably know that their target was wearing a special fabric- that was frankly absurd. Chuuya's vest was bullet proof, fire proof, etc. by benefit of being a top government asset who wants and can get such extra protection.

Therefore, Chuuya only stumbled a bit at what ended up only being a shove forwards. He whipped around and wrenched the taser from the hands of the invisible person who had tried to shock him.

He clicked his tongue, sounding disappointed as he turned the taser off. "All right, playtime is over."

Suddenly, the students dropped to the ground. It felt as if a weight sat on their chests, heavy and unmoving.

"Now, mind telling me why you randomly attacked me?" Chuuya drawled. His eyes were narrowed.

"Umm, we thought you were a villain, sir?" Kirishima politely admitted.

Chuuya rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You guys are paranoid. And that can be useful if properly channeled. But attacking a random person just because 'they look like a villain' or because one of your classmates attacked a guy, it's still assault. In the future, I hope you will get that this not a good policy for any pro hero to have." He pulled out his wallet and showed a familiar small piece of plastic: a pro hero licence. "And speaking of which, by the way, I am one." He released his ability and the students stood up.

Among the listeners, there was sudden widespread embarrassment. Several people blushed. Some stared at the ground, trying to deal with the heavy stone that had been dropped into their stomach. Some people apologized immediately, others took a few seconds to find their voice.

Iida dropped into a perfect, ninety-degree bow. He rattled off a list of sincere apologies.

Chuuya winced. "Apology accepted. Sonic, kid with blue hair, please calm down. You guys jumped to conclusions. But, no harm done... as long as you guys learn from this." He swept his serious gaze around at the teenagers. "Understood?"

All of the students replied with a "Hai (yes)," in unison.

Chuuya sighed and put a hand on his hip. "Good, now that's taken care of. Anyways, I am here to see Bakugou. You guys know where he is?"

"Up in his room, sir," Iida politely volunteered.

"Thank you," Chuuya curtly replied.

XXX

After class, several students crowded around Bakugou's desk. He growled something under his breath.

"Who's the guy that visited you last night, Bakugou?" Mina asked.

"None of your business," Bakugou flatly shot her down.

"What happened?" Midoriya asked with confusion.

"We thought a guy was a villain, so we attacked him?" Kaminari summarized. He left out his part in instigating the fight.

"Who?"

"Umm, he was short. Red hair, blue eyes, and dressed well," Uraraka described. She nervously twirled a lock of hair around her finger.

Midoriya's mouth fell open. "You attacked Mr. Chuuya?" He questioned, horrified.

"Yeah, they got their a*ses beat," Bakugou commented with a smirk.

XXX

U.A.'s Cultural Festival meant that a large crowd of people would be everywhere. Getting through to different places in the more populated areas... well, it was like fighting a battle to go the direction one wanted, pushing through a mess of limbs and bright clothing.

It was because of this that Midoriya left Eri behind to go get some snacks for them. He didn't want Eri to get squished... or get frightened and accidentally use her Quirk.

"Hey Eri." Someone put a hand on her shoulder.

Eri jumped at the voice. Her Quirk activated automatically. She was scared, a rush of emotions poured through her at hearing the voice that seemed vaguely familiar. But who was it? Why did she know them—were they a villain that wanted to take her back?

The man pulled his hand away. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you, kid. I'm Chuuya. I was one of the heroes that rescued you."

Eri stayed frozen. He wasn't part of the Eight Precepts of Death-he was a hero. And she remembered him, some. That day was mostly a blur. Chuuya was the one who had burst through the wall before Deku had. He was the one who had saved Mirio and her from being shot. The man that had saved them and gotten shot. Her eyes filled with tears. She knew how dangerous her Quirk was-she could have erased him. "Did I? Did you? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she repeated.

"About what?" Chuuya asked, confused.

"I used my Quirk on you," Eri confessed in a small voice. She could have killed him.

Chuuya snorted. He sat on the bench beside her. "It's okay, kid." He caught the deepening frown on Eri's face. "No, seriously. I don't know how to explain it to you." He didn't know for sure, but it would be a bit hard to explain that it was probably because he had been in the same physical state for decades. "Let's just say... Let me put it like this. Your Quirk doesn't really affect me. Okay?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. Look at me-I'm fine," Chuuya encouraged.

Eri looked at him quickly, out of the corner of her eyes. The man did seem fine. "Okay," she quietly agreed.

"Do you want to see something cool?" Chuuya asked.

"What?" Eri replied. Her eyes filled with curiosity.

Chuuya hummed, looking around for something. He bent forward, still sitting down, and picked a brown pebble off the ground. "Watch this." He threw it in the air. The pebble floated in the air, now looking more of a brownish-red.

Eri's eyes went big. "That's awesome!"

The pebble dropped down into Chuuya's hand. He gave it to Eri, watching her hold it with awestruck eyes. He pulled a business card out of his pocket and a pen. He scribbled his personal cell number on it. "And, if you ever need help with a problem. Just call." His smile faded into a serious look. "Especially if it's a serious problem, if bad guys ever go after you again, okay?"

"I will," Eri promised. She put the card in her pocket, where it would be safe, but she kept the pebble in her hand.

"Good, I'll hold you to it." Chuuya smiled and ruffled Eri's head. "Alright, I'm going to head out. Tell Midoriya I said hi."

His smile faded once again as he melted into the crowds. He was just happy the girl had retained some innocence.

XXX

"Oh, hey, kid," a guy called out. He tapped Bakugou on the shoulder.

Bakugou frowned. "What?" He turned around.

It was the second top pro hero, Hawks. He stood out among the crowds of other shoppers. He wasn't wearing some bright-colored hero suit, but his large bright red wings were a bit noticeable. He grinned. "Just thought I'd say hi."

"Hey, Wings," Bakugou flatly said. He walked away.

Hawks chuckled, keeping pace with the student. "You've got a sense of humor. Didn't see that come out during the sports festival, only saw the rage."

Bakugou glared at Hawks. Something about this guy really ticked him off. "What do you want, Wings?"

"To get to know you a bit better." Hawks gestured "I'm curious, I'll admit."

"Go be curious somewhere else," Bakugou tartly replied. He mentally sighed. Oh, Wings is like Dazai. That's why.

XXX

Bakugou and Midoriya were studying in Midoriya's room. Well, they were taking a break from studying... more hanging out than anything else.

Midoriya was browsing through videos on his phone. He gasped, turning up the volume on a video. It was a short clip of Bakugou fighting a thief during his Kuro internship. Midoriya was squealing with excitement on the inside while the video played, happily analyzing his friend's moves. Then... he frowned. "I just realized that you never told me about your internship," he said with surprise.

Bakugou shrugged. "You really didn't tell me about yours, either." 'And you never mentioned that you, Sonic the Hedgehog, and IcyHot fought Stain,' Bakugou mentally added. He wasn't going to bring that up, though; Dazai had advised him against letting on that he knew about different things, since Bakugou wasn't really supposed to know. Besides, it wasn't like he wanted to get interrogated by Midoriya.

A/N

Kindle will be going on a hiatus. I need some time to write the next few chapters. Kindle will likely return Spring 2020. In the meantime, I will be posting Bungou Stray Dogs stories (mostly), along with a few from other fandoms mixed in (such as RWBY, Detective Conan, and Miraculous Ladybug).

Comment/review if you liked this chapter or want the rest of this story to actually be written.

-Silver


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